How will we afford full-time RVing?

Your driver for this post is Susanne.

Several people have asked us how we can afford to ditch traditional jobs and RV full time, so I thought I'd write a post entirely devoted to that question.

Working from home with the McDowells... 
In other words, Trent tries to work and we bother him...

First, we are not independently wealthy. *Pauses to laugh hysterically* Not even close. We have ongoing financial obligations: school loans, some lingering credit card debt (though we've reduced it considerably over the past few years), a small car loan, and now an RV loan. Our current incomes are sufficient, but they certainly aren't huge. In other words, when it comes to money, our situation is nothing unusual (I mean from a middle class United States point of view... Clearly from a broader perspective, we are very lucky).

This means we will be working from the road as "digital nomads." We spent several months researching and applying for jobs that would allow us to work online from wherever we are. Given our backgrounds in online teaching and editing, we did have a bit of an "in"; that said, you'd be surprised how many opportunities are out there if you know where to look and if you're very persistent (I've included some potentially helpful links at the end of this post).

What Trent will be doing: Trent works for a publisher and contributes to science textbooks and learning materials. His job offers flexibility and competitive pay, but he still works at least 40 hours a week. The job also requires consistent, reliable Internet access, something that takes careful strategizing when you know you're going to be working from a campground. (He'll talk about that in a future post.)

(Sidenote: Trent is basically a modern Renaissance Man. Chemistry, biology, physics, geology, math, computer animation stuff... He can do it all.)

What I will be doing: Following in the footsteps of other folks who are jumping out of the ivory tower, I'm leaving my tenure-track academic job. Instead, I'll be working as a part-time (adjunct) environmental science instructor for a non-profit online school. Anyone familiar with the world of academia will understand right off the bat that this is a terrible way to make money, if making money is the only goal. Adjuncts don't get paid much, it's true. They also don't get much respect. I could go on and on about the problem of "adjunctification" of faculty in higher education, but in my case adjuncting is ideal. It will allow me to continue teaching science while also homeschooling my son. Moreover, it will give me a chance to work with non-traditional college students, a demographic that I particularly enjoy because of the life experiences, confidence, and self-motivation they bring to the classroom. 

I also have a Beachbody coaching business that I'm hoping to expand while on the road. Each month, I co-lead online fitness challenge groups in which people of all fitness levels work towards a health-related goal. Coaching is something I would have never envisioned for myself even a couple of years ago, but it's something that I find really meaningful and gratifying. I'd go so far as to say that I am passionate about it. Personal well-being is important, though it's often the first thing to go to the back burner when life gets busy and stressful. 

As exhilarating as it is to embark on this adventure, it's also a little scary. We're trying to plan and prepare as much as we can, but to an extent, we're taking a leap without knowing how strong our safety net is. Then again, no matter what you do in life - no matter how much money you make, how good your health is right now in this moment, how much you plan and prepare - the concept of security is something of an illusion anyway. It's an illusion that makes you think if you just do the right things, show up to work on time, work hard, save your money, have a yearly physical, and eat your veggies, you'll be okay. But that's not always true. So away we go.

In short: Although our lifestyle will change in that we'll be living in a much smaller space and moving around a lot, the financial aspect of things isn't all that different. We won't have rent or a mortgage, but we will have an RV loan. We'll still have to work and we'll still have to pay bills, and I'm guessing our total costs will be at least as much as they are now. 

A couple of resources for finding remote work (let me know if you have other recommendations):

Flexjobs: Kind of like Monster and Careerbuilder, but specifically for folks who are looking for telecommuting gigs in various fields. Trent used it for a while before taking his current position. 

Inside Higher Ed remote job board: As a college instructor, this site was immensely helpful for me. I submitted my CV to several schools via this site and interviewed with two of them. Lots of great opportunities here.